Strong Like You
by GooseLives
Summary: Remus Lupin is a broken man, facing a life in a dangerous new world without his best friend. Will a voice from the past prove strong enough to bring his soul back to life... RLNT, Re-Posted, please RR.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own any of J.K. Rowling's characters, plots, etc. from the Harry Potter series.  
  
Note: When I posted my disclaimer and the first chapter yesterday, something got fouled up and it never posted the latter. I apologize for this inconvenience and for how riled up all of you got about it. Thanks... Michele  
  
Strong Like You (Chapter 1)  
  
According to the incessant droning of that blasted Muggle contraption next door, this July was shaping up to be one of the warmest, and most uncomfortable, on record. Tugging furiously at the shirt collar round his neck, with an adamancy that would suggest it was looking to strangle him, Remus Lupin couldn't help but to agree with the bellowing prat in that little wooden box.  
  
The tortures of a summer in London seemed unmatched with any other place on Earth, carrying with it more perils than the Sahara at high noon. The heat here felt thicker, denser; almost alive as it sat atop its victims, slowly smothering them beneath its monstrous weight. Laced with the layer of smog that hovered over the city and sodden with the evaporated Thames, this faceless demon had found its way into the homes of countless Britons and was obviously content to stay there as long as it pleased.  
  
Even sitting perfectly still, each breath seemed to be a more daunting task than the one before, and the stagnancy of the air around him was proving absolutely maddening. Only twelve days had passed since Remus had parted ways with Harry Potter on Platform 9¾ and made his way back to the dilapidated ancestral home of Sirius Black, but oppressive heat, and crushing guilt, made each day seem like two hundred.  
  
Sirius...  
  
A rare breeze drifted through the open kitchen window, carrying a short peal of laughter and the merry yap of a dog in the distance to Remus' ears. With a wince, his eyes drifted closed and he leaned his trembling frame over the kitchen sink, allowing the familiar weight of grief to settle like a rock in the pit of his stomach. The reminder of his best friend, whose death had not even a month passed, was a sharp jab at a fresh wound, and he couldn't help wondering aloud if the pain would ever go away.  
  
"Oy, I'm home!"  
  
Remus' eyes flew open as the clear female voice rang through the empty house, and the slam of the front door sent him whirling around so quickly that he swiped a by-standing tea cup clear off the counter and sent it crashing down onto the tile floor. As if on cue, the portrait of Sirius' mum started hurling insults from her frame in the foyer and the new entry began shouting right back as she wrestled with the curtains, causing the man's already frazzled nerves to practically explode as he dropped to his knees to deal with the splintered porcelain.  
  
After a few more toe-curling swear words, silence befell the house once more and the sound of heavy footsteps could be heard crossing the hall to where Remus was crouched on the kitchen floor. Staring blindly into the pile of dust and shards at his feet, he felt her presence in the doorway, but he pretended not to notice. If one thing would get a rise out of Nymphadora Tonks, he knew this was it.  
  
Clearing her throat to announce her arrival, though she knew he was completely aware of it already, Tonks appraised the scene before her and coolly asked, "What in the hell is that?" Remus Lupin was one of the most collected individuals she knew of, and right frustrating because of it on most days, so seeing him crawling about on the kitchen floor was decidedly odd, indeed.  
  
"It was a tea cup," he replied, matter-of-factly, his honey colored eyes sparkling with laughter as they darted up to briefly meet hers. Sifting his fingers through the remnants of Mrs. Black's fine china piece, Remus added, "I don't suppose I'll be able to salvage this, hmm?"  
  
Tonks couldn't help the grin that crossed her lips as her gaze roved over the obviously daft older man and his little pile of powder. "And Molly thinks I am a walking disaster," she said with a snort, "Remus, you've managed to make that thing unrecognizable. That takes talent."  
  
Crossing the kitchen floor, the witch withdrew her wand from the back pocket of her jeans and sank to her knees in front of him. Raising her deep lavender eyes to meet his, Tonks murmured her charm and, miraculously, the splinters rejoined to form a tea cup. With a small smile, she added, "It's nice to see you smiling again, Remus."  
  
Her words, however comforting and innocent they were intended to be, brought Sirius' face, twisted with shock and dread as he tumbled helplessly through the veil to his death, swimming before his eyes once again. His best friend was dead. The little boy he had come to care so much for was undoubtedly having one of the worst summers ever, mourning his godfather alone with little comfort from his dreadful aunt and uncle. Oh, and the entire wizarding world was plunged into this all out war between good and evil that had the potential to end the lives of hundreds, in the most terrible ways devised by man. Why, in Merlin's name, was he smiling?!  
  
Remus quickly rose from his place on the cool tile, his eyes trained on the door ahead of him, and muttered, "If you'll excuse me, please. Pressing business--." His entire being seemed devoid of emotion as he all but ran from the room, leaving Tonks alone on the floor, no closer to understanding him than she had been all those years ago.  
  
From the place where it had stood trembling between them only minutes before, the already fragile tea cup smashed once more into a pile of dust, leaving behind an irreconcilable mess for her to clean up.  
  



	2. Chapter 2

Edited by Susan D…check out her stuff, it's better : )

Reviews are always appreciated…hint

Strong like You

(Chapter 2)

If the sticky summer days at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, had seemed entirely too long and unbearable before, those which immediately followed the incident in the kitchen could easily be classified as pure torture. Though both continued to live primarily at the Black estate, Remus and Tonks barely acknowledged one another's existence, and with Molly's brood back in the Burrow and the rest of the usual inhabitants out on Order business, the silence made the already destitute house seem even gloomier. On the rare occasions when they actually dared to speak, it was usually just a few words, in passing, on the odd weather or the state of the war, ending in awkward silence and someone promptly walking away.

While Remus Lupin had never been eager to show his thoughts or feelings to the world, never before had Tonks seen him so forbidding. He drifted wordlessly between his room, the kitchen, and the parlor, refusing to allow any mark of humanity escape the stony façade he had erected. She must have done something truly awful to warrant this kind of response from such a notoriously forgiving man. It was too bad she hadn't the faintest idea of what that could have been…

Truthfully, the silence was driving Tonks completely out of her head. Without the blissful distraction of idle chitchat, she could feel each minute slowly ticking by…feel her stomach twist into knots of frustration…feel the eyes of a hundred ghosts resting solely on her…she could feel, and with Sirius' death so fresh in her memory, feeling was the very last thing she wanted to do. This madness had to end.

Suddenly alert, the witch rose from her perch on her bedroom windowsill, and quickly descended the stairs, each step assertive and filled with purpose as she neared the living room, where Remus spent his evenings. But as the bottom step loomed ever closer, Tonks suddenly had to start mumbling words of encouragement to herself, trying to scrounge up every last bit of patience and tact she possessed to help get her through that door…

…Her heart raced as she ducked into the darkened kitchen, inwardly cursing herself for being such a ninny. It was only Remus, Tonks reminded herself, withdrawing her wand from her jeans to conjure up some tea for herself, since she was already in there and wasn't allowed so much as a glance at the stove, unsupervised.

"What's the worst he could do?"

Remus didn't have to look up to know that Tonks had just walked into the room. He had heard her muttering in the hall and making a fuss in the kitchen, and, besides, his luck had been too awful as of late to allow him a moment's peace.

Discreetly glancing upward, he watched her nursing her cup of tea with both hands as she cautiously moved to the wingback chair, opposite his, by the fire. If he hadn't been so thoroughly shaken by the appearance, Remus probably would have found the focused effort to combat her clumsiness side-splittingly funny. But after days of calculated silence and avoidance, the witch was purposely placing herself in his vicinity, which could mean only one thing: intervention.

"So, what have you got there?" Tonks asked, glancing at the open volume he was so thoroughly engrossed in from over the rim of her teacup. While it wasn't exactly the most original conversation starter, it would have to do.

Remus let out an exasperated sigh, wanting so desperately to tell her that she should just say what she'd come to say or leave him in peace. Stifling the urge, he replied, evenly, "Certainly nothing that you would find of any interest, Nymphadora."

Her mouth dropped open at his words, which were so unusually condescending and not like Remus at all, and in this newfound burst of rage she slammed the unfortunate little cup back down on its saucer and set it on the table. "And how would you know, Remus, considering you hardly ever speak to me anymore?!"

"Come on, Tonks. I've known you since you were a kid, so don't give me that rubbish. If you must know, the book is entitled 'Pogrebins and You', though I don't know why you care."

The title seemed decidedly dull indeed, but she wasn't about to let him know that after he had the gall to say such awful things to her. Jumping to her feet, she grabbed the open volume from his lap, tossed it to the ground, and shouted, "Remus J. Lupin, just because I'm not a boring, unfeeling git, who'd prefer a life full of inanimate nothings to actual human interaction, that doesn't mean I'm a complete moron!"

Her voice lowered dangerously as she turned her brimming eyes from him to the dancing flames in the hearth and added, "I care about a hell of a lot more than you'd ever know."

"Tonks, I—," he began, only to be interrupted by her raised hand as she walked away.

With a sigh, he raked a hand through his silvering hair and pulled himself to his feet once more. "What a mess," he muttered aloud, bending down to pick up the book she had left in a heap on the floor. Carelessly, he grabbed it and dropped it back down on the nearby end table with a thud, sending yet another teacup sailing to the floor.

Remus groaned with the frustration of it all, glancing up to find a picture of Sirius and James laughing at him from their frame on the mantle.

"Well, I'm glad someone's enjoying all this."


End file.
